


Obtuse

by bananannabeth



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, jealous!Annabeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 02:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13261689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananannabeth/pseuds/bananannabeth
Summary: Percy makes friends at a college party, but her intentions aren’t what he expects.





	Obtuse

 

“Oh, thanks!” Percy smiles as the girl - Cassie? Casey? He thinks it’s Cassie, but the music was so loud when she introduced herself he couldn’t quite hear - hands him a fresh cup. “Just Coke, right?”

 

“Yeah,” she says, matching his smile with her own. “Though I still don’t get why you’re not drinking.”

 

He tries to subtly sniff the drink before taking a sip, just to be sure. It smells okay. “Not a fan,” he says by way of explanation, taking a small sip.

 

Cassie tags a swig from her own cup, gagging slightly as the vodka hits her throat. “Yeah,” she coughs, “I can - ah, I can understand that.”

 

He laughs, and she laughs too, and when Percy settles back against the wall she comes and stands next to him. 

 

She nods out at the crowd and says, “So, what do you think of the party?”

 

“It’s pretty fun,” he says, which is mostly true. He’d prefer to be back in his dorm, snuggled up in bed with Netflix on in the background and Annabeth curled up beside him. But, as far as college parties go, he thinks this one is all right. The music isn’t terrible, at least. “Although, to be honest, I don’t have that much experience with parties so I’m probably not the best judge.”

 

Cassie turns to him with a knowing look. “I thought you were shy, hanging out by yourself over here with that brooding expression.”

 

“Brooding?” he says, lips quirking up.

 

“Well, you’re not brooding now. But you totally were before.”

 

“I was not brooding.”

 

“You were.”

 

He laughs and shakes his head. He’s just about to explain what he was actually doing when she takes another swig of her drink.

 

“But seriously, how have you not been to hundreds of parties? Handsome guy like you, you must have been on everyone’s invite list.” Cassie’s eyes are shining as she watches him over the brim of her cup.

 

Percy bows his head and rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t know,” he says.

 

She knocks her elbow into his and he looks up, sort of startled by the friendly physical contact. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

 

“I was, uh, kind of busy throughout high school. Not a lot of time for parties,” he offers.

 

“Oh, you played sports, didn’t you?” Her eyes flicker over his chest, trail up his arm and back to his face. “You were an extracurricular guy.”

 

“Yeah,” he says quietly, sipping his Coke. He mutters the next part into the cup. “Something like that.”

 

“What was it? Football? Lacrosse?”

 

He shakes his head, genuinely amused at the prospect of him running across a field catching a ball in a net on a stick. “Swimming.”

 

“Swimming!” Cassie looks impressed. “Nice.”

 

There’s a pause, and Percy shifts so that one of his legs is bent at the knee, sole of his shoe planted back against the wall. “What about you, did you play any sports?”

 

Cassie laughs. “No, none at all. I was more into theatre.”

 

“An actress?”

 

“Yeah.” She crinkles her nose. “Attempted, anyway.”

 

“I’m sure you’re great,” he says easily.

 

The smile she gives him now is softer, and her voice is quieter. “Thanks.”

 

There’s another pause, and a guy from one of Percy’s classes waves to him from across the room. He takes his hand from his pocket and waves back, which causes the guy to whoop excitedly and do a weird little dance over to the beer pong game being played across the room.

 

“A fan?” Cassie asks with a quirked brow.

 

“Ha, no. Just a guy from one of my classes.”

 

“What are you studying?”

 

This is a topic he’s somewhat comfortable with. “Marine Biology. You?”

 

Cassie nods. “Nice. I’m an English Lit major. So, you know, I’ll be stuck working at the cafe for the rest of my life.”

 

She gives a self deprecating laugh, but he frowns. “The cafe on campus?”

 

“Yeah, that’s the one.” 

 

“My girlfriend loves that place.” 

 

Cassie leans back against the wall. “Your girlfriend?”

 

Percy smiles, just the mention of Annabeth making him feel happier. “Yeah. She’s obsessed with this breakfast tea you guys have? And the brownies, gods, she loves the brownies. She goes in every Thursday afternoon and gets like three to last her the weekend.”

 

Cassie laughs and takes another sip of her drink. “Everyone loves the brownies.” When she turns around to face Percy, there’s a careful smile on her lips. “Is she here tonight, your girlfriend?”

 

He nods and scans the room. “Yeah, she is. I was actually waiting here for her, she was supposed to be getting us both a refill and meeting me back here…”

 

“Oh, sorry,” Cassie says, smirking. “I beat her to it.” 

 

“Yeah.” Percy frowns, still scanning the crowd. “I guess you did.”

 

“Could I meet her?” He feels a hand on his forearm, and looks down to see Cassie’s pink nails curled around his arm. When he blinks down at her she smiles up through her eyelashes. 

 

He’s slightly taken aback, but is too focused on finding Annabeth to really care. “Sure,” he says offhandedly.

 

Cassie smiles wide and squeezes his arm. “Great.”

 

It’s at that moment he spots Annabeth, standing across the room with her shirt falling off one shoulder and a frown on her face. He waves animatedly, thinking she’ll brighten up when she sees him, but if anything her expression darkens. She starts making her way over to him, but it’s more of a march than a walk. 

 

Cassie follows his gaze and spots Annabeth as she pushes through the throng of people. Her hand falls from his arm and she gasps, “Oh, my god.”

 

Percy pushes off from the wall and holds his arms out to Annabeth. She slides under his arm seamlessly and nestles into his side without looking at his face. Instead, her gaze is laser focused on Cassie, who is openly staring. Percy kneads Annabeth’s shoulder in an attempt to release some of her tension, but it doesn’t seem to help.

 

He’s starting to think maybe he should have gone over to her, rather than bringing her wrath down on Cassie.

 

“Hi,” she says, voice like honey. “I’m Annabeth, Percy’s girlfriend.”

 

Cassie makes a sort of mumbled response, looking too intimidated to actually string enough syllables together to form a word.

 

Percy feels a little bad for her. He knows how terrifying Annabeth’s glares can be. “This is Cassie,” he introduces, and Annabeth tilts her head to look up at him, expression carefully blank. “She’s an English Lit major.”

 

“That must be interesting,” Annabeth says with a sharp smile.

 

Cassie nods mutely.

 

Percy adds, “And she works at the cafe!”

 

“The cafe?” Annabeth asks.

 

“On campus,” Cassie says, apparently starting to recover.

 

Percy feels Annabeth’s shoulders relax slightly. “Oh, I love it there.”

 

“Yeah, I - uh, I’ve seen you a few times.” He doesn’t understand why, but Cassie looks like she’s blushing.

 

“Oh, that’s right! You gave me a discount last week!”

 

Cassie wavers slightly on her feet, blinking like Annabeth’s smile is as bright as the sun. Which it is, Percy knows for a fact.

 

“Do you like working there?” Annabeth asks, sounding more genuine than just a few seconds before. 

 

“Yeah, I mean, I meet lots of interesting people…” Cassie takes a huge gulp of her drink, finishing the cup, and slams it down into her empty palm, crushing the bottom, before blurting out, “Like you, although I didn’t realise you had a boyfriend.”

 

Annabeth stiffens again, and Percy looks between the two girls with wide eyes. 

 

“Oh,” Annabeth says.

 

Cassie pushes her shoulders back and turns her megawatt smile back on, aiming it straight at Annabeth. “When he mentioned that his girlfriend came in to buy a bag of brownies every Thursday I was really hoping he wasn’t talking about you, but.” She shrugs, like, ‘ _what can you do?_ ’.“And I don’t know why I’m telling you this. It’s a bit embarrassing, admitting that I’ve had a crush on you for the whole semester.”

 

Annabeth blinks. “You have -”

 

Cassie winces. “Why did I just say that out loud?”

 

“Probably the vodka,” Percy says, sounding slightly winded.

 

Cassie nods and smiles again. “Yeah, probably. Anyway, I hope I haven’t deterred you from visiting the cafe.”

 

“No,” Annabeth says softly, looking thoroughly surprised. “I couldn’t give up those brownies.”

 

“Or the tea,” Percy adds.

 

“Or the tea,” Annabeth agrees, nodding.

 

Cassie grins and reaches out to pat Percy’s shoulder. “It was nice to meet you. You’re very lucky.”

 

“I know,” he says, absolutely sincere.

 

“And it was nice to talk to you,” she says to Annabeth, “even if I am going to remember this conversation tomorrow and want to wash my mouth out with soap.”

 

Annabeth smiles. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you on Thursday?”

 

“Yeah! I’ll see you then. The brownies will be waiting for you.” Cassie waves goodbye and melts into the crowd, leaving the two of them standing in a stunned silence. 

 

Percy clears his throat. “Well, that was -”

 

“I thought she was flirting with you,” Annabeth says, spinning around under his arm to face him. “I was furious, I thought she was flirting with you.”

 

“That’s cute,” he says, amusement settling in as the shock wears off. “Who’s the obtuse one now, huh?”

 

“Excuse you?”

 

“She’s been flirting with you all semester and you didn’t even notice!”

 

Annabeth looks properly mortified. “Oh, my gods, Percy -”

 

“All semester! And you thought she was flirting with me!” He laughs, long and loud.

 

She rests her forehead against his chest and groans. “Shut. Up.”

 

“Oh, wait until Piper hears about this.”

 

 


End file.
